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At Least 55 Dead as Greek Ferry Sinks in Aegean

PAROS, Greece -- A Greek ferry struck a patch of rocks in the Aegean Sea and sank, killing at least 55 of the more than 500 people aboard who panicked and started jumping overboard, rescue officials said. ``We're finding bodies all the time. There are 55 dead and about that number of people missing,'' rescue force chief Andreas Kois said Wednesday. Many of the dead were young children, who were not required to be counted on the passenger list. A port official also suffered a heart attack and died after hearing news of the sinking, the coast guard said. Justice Minister Michalis Stathopoulos said the accident was caused by ``criminal negligence,'' and prosecutors ordered the arrest of the ship's captain and four crew members. Coast Guard chief Andreas Sirigos said the 34-year-old ferry boat hit a large rocky outcrop late Tuesday in rough seas about two miles off the popular resort island of Paros. A crew member interviewed by telephone said there was an orderly evacuation. But passengers reported a strong collision and then panic. ``The ship fell apart as it sank. There were people hanging from the railings. Children were crying and old people were screaming,'' Zoe Kolida told private Mega television. ``I jumped in and looked back after about 50 meters and the ship was gone.'' ``I thought of the Titanic,'' another survivor, engineer Stamatis Delavinias, told Mega. ``The boat sank in about half an hour. There were old women and others who were afraid to jump in the sea.'' Dozens of fishing boats, other vessels and British Navy helicopters rushed to the scene and helped in the rescue. The ferry's owner said there were 447 tickets sold and 63 crew members aboard, but the exact number of passengers was not known as some may have purchased their tickets onboard and children under the age of 5 are not required to have tickets. Some reports said at least 20 people from another ship owned by the same company may have boarded the ferry. The head of the Paros Health Center, Dimitris Stavrakis, said ``there a number of young children among the dead.'' A British Navy helicopter in rescue operations touched down at Paros airport and was seen unloading four bodies, including that of an infant. Some survivors taken to other locations, including the nearby island of Antiparos, also said they had not been registered by rescue authorities. It was not known how many foreigners were aboard, but they reportedly included passengers from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, and the United States. Coast guard officials were baffled as to why the 345-foot, 4,407-ton Express Samina hit the Portes islet, a large rocky outcrop which is marked on maritime charts and has a navigation light. ``You have to be blind not to see it,'' Sirigos said. ``It is inexplicable how the ship collided with a well-known rock that carries a light visible from a distance of seven miles.'' The accident was even more surprising for a vessel such as the Express Samina, one of more than a dozen ferries that daily sail to Paros and other resorts. The ship's captain Vassilis Yannakis, his lieutenant, Anastasios Psychoyos, and three crew members were arrested. A supreme court prosecutor also summoned two senior officials from the ferry's operator, Minoan Flying Dolphins, to give testimony. The captain of another ferry, Theoharis Tsoukalas, said he made the same run almost every day and could not remember ``any other ship ever hitting there.'' Greek and British warships on maneuvers in the area scoured the area as life rafts and vests washed ashore. Rescue efforts were hampered by a fresh gale with winds blowing up to 46 mph. British helicopters rescued at least 12 people, including two Britons, clinging to rocks in the swelling seas and took them aboard the HMS Invincible for treatment. They were suffering from cold, shock and minor cuts and bruises. Sirigos said 443 people from the ship had been accounted for at the island's health center. He appealed for any survivors staying at hotels or private homes to register at the health center. The ferry makes regularly scheduled runs from the Athens port of Piraeus to the island of Samos with a final stop at the tiny Lipsi islands near the Turkish coast. It was about to make a stop on Paros, 100 miles southeast of Athens, when it hit the reef. Sirigos said the coast guard was also investigating why it took the crew nearly 20 minutes to inform the coast guard that the ship was sinking.

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A version of this article appears in print on September 27, 2000 of the National edition with the headline: At Least 55 Dead as Greek Ferry Sinks in Aegean. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe